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The New Smoking (2021)

conorbroderick.net

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Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#21

Post by nonrandomstring »

adrianhon wrote: post #18

Self-promo: I recently wrote a book critiquing gamification of this kind, examining it across health and fitness and lifestyle apps, video games, workplaces, finance, and more. It’s called You’ve Been Played and you can find a bunch of excerpts and reviews and discussions here: https://www.metafilter.com/197065/Youve-Been-Played I think I have a unique perspective on the topic as CEO of a games company (Six to Start)…

Thanks for sharing this. Great!

EDIT: Mention of Lewis Mumford is already bodes well.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#22

Post by hoherd »

wyldfire wrote: post #7

> This extends to video games, usually of the free-to-play type. Free games are mostly hot garbage, with a couple of rare exceptions. Many of these are also pay-to-win games which strike me as the most preposterous use of time imaginable.

Mobile phone games are why I bought a 3DS. Some were good, almost all being paid games, but so many were just repetitious gambling for worthless achievements, portable slot machines. When I quit putting games on my phone and used that time for books and 3DS games my life got notably better. Breaking that repetition and proceeding through a story with characters and new ideas is so much more rewarding.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#23

Post by leetbulb »

thecatspaw wrote: post #12

A new-to-me term I learned recently which I feel quite nicely relates to this post is Consumer neuroscience. Wikipedia clinically describes the field as "The goal of the field is to find neural explanations for consumer behaviors in individuals both with or without disease." Personally I have a less favourable description of it. How to make people addicted to your product, and spend more money than they should.

Having worked in related industries, I've always referred to this as the "dopamine / reward loop" (I think this is fairly well accepted?). Some people are predisposed to hardcore exploitation (e.g. gambling addicts), but from what I understand, and generally speaking, we're all capable of falling victim to some degree (we're all susceptible to some level of superfluous dopamine response). Not helping, industry shaping our society to modulate where the average falls on this spectrum. A normal child having a cellphone is very similar to a normal child taking amphetamines, both yielding unnatural amounts of dopamine. Both can very well cause ADD-like symptoms after being taken away. There's also a parallel here to sugar and Type 2 diabetes, and other disorders.

I think there may be a balance, but whatever is happening today is totally exploitative and should be regulated in some way, at least up until a certain age.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#24

Post by Synaesthesia »

solaarphunk wrote: post #19

This is why China released comprehensive regulations governing algorithms that are aimed at companies which use dark patterns and ranked newsfeeds to fuel addiction and also exploit hourly workers, like delivery drivers, whose livelihood is determined entirely by an app. Interesting that they are ahead on this problem, of all things.

Not to mention kids playing too much video games, which is also a concern.

Yes the thing which China does well is regulated capitalism, they permit capitalism, they allow billionaires and so on, but only if it's in the interest of the state, which still reigns supreme. In the US and the West, the corporations give orders to the governments.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#25

Post by A4ET8a8uTh0 »

thecatspaw wrote: post #12

A new-to-me term I learned recently which I feel quite nicely relates to this post is Consumer neuroscience. Wikipedia clinically describes the field as "The goal of the field is to find neural explanations for consumer behaviors in individuals both with or without disease." Personally I have a less favourable description of it. How to make people addicted to your product, and spend more money than they should.

If there is one thing that I took from my marketing classes, it is that marketing basically starts with trying to understand people as they actually are. You cannot sell stuff well if you do not understand how people work. For example, as annoyed as I was to discover it, it is genuinely hard to argue with Patzer's looks[1] and how perception can alter my disposition towards buying something.

I genuinely hate the ads-tech, ad-ridden web, and ads in general, but I cannot help but to admire it for starting from a very simple 'this is how things really are'.

[1]https://gordonpatzer.com/

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#26

Post by kennend3 »

hoherd wrote: post #22
wyldfire wrote: post #7

> This extends to video games, usually of the free-to-play type. Free games are mostly hot garbage, with a couple of rare exceptions. Many of these are also pay-to-win games which strike me as the most preposterous use of time imaginable.

Mobile phone games are why I bought a 3DS. Some were good, almost all being paid games, but so many were just repetitious gambling for worthless achievements, portable slot machines. When I quit putting games on my phone and used that time for books and 3DS games my life got notably better. Breaking that repetition and proceeding through a story with characters and new ideas is so much more rewarding.

I bought all my kids their own 3DS' long ago.

the other added benefit is no "micro-transactions" or other ways of "monetizing the user".

With the 3DS you pay for the game upfront, and for the most part that is the end of things.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#28

Post by revskill »

Stupid parenting is what causes current issue. Yes, they're too busy to take care of their children, so let's just give them a phone and done, you're free!

If all parents forbid their children to touch the phone, problem solved.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#29

Post by creaghpatr »

semicolon_storm wrote: post #14
rhacker wrote: post #2

I mean he's right. At some point if we're just robots playing candy crush or watching tiktok after tiktok - what's the real downside of just matrixing our society. I mean yes there are people that still skateboard or ski or hike, but if the population that finds meaning in activities disappears in the next 100 years, there's no reason to have physical anything. Might as well call it or fight back.

Digital and real world hobbies are not mutually exclusive. If you have an outdoor hobby, you've probably noticed it being busier than ever over the last few years. Hiking trails, beaches, surf breaks, running paths, etc have all been the busier than they ever were before COVID. People may be spending more time than ever online, but people are also spending lots of time in nature.

If anything, tiktok/instagrammers are too prevalent in natural areas these days, harvesting those areas for likes and influence.

Re: The New Smoking (2021)

#30

Post by leetbulb »

revskill wrote: post #28

Stupid parenting is what causes current issue. Yes, they're too busy to take care of their children, so let's just give them a phone and done, you're free! If all parents forbid their children to touch the phone, problem solved.

How else are parents going to have time to tend their virtual farms?

Edit: Yeah go ahead, down vote, but this is intended to be a humorous take on a systemic problem, as other have mentioned.

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